Iran leader warns U.S. of 'crushing' response

Ahmadinejad blasts Obama

recount rejected

June 28, 2009|By Borzou Daragahi, Tribune Newspapers

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran's president blasted his American counterpart Saturday as the two countries fell back into a familiar pattern of back-and-forth barbs that could imperil the Obama administration's plans to open a direct dialogue with Iran about its nuclear program.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad responded to President Barack Obama's criticism of the Islamic republic's crackdown on dissenters after an explosion of civil unrest over Ahmadinejad's re-election.

On Friday, answering Ahmadinejad's demand that the U.S. stay out of Iran's affairs, Obama urged the Iranian president "to consider looking at the families of those who've been beaten or shot or detained."

Ahmadinejad fired back, saying Obama had made "unconventional, abnormal and discourteous comments" in condemning the violence and political repression.

"If you continue your meddlesome stance," he warned Obama, "the Iranian nation's response will be crushing and regret-inducing."

"They constantly say that they want to talk with Iran," Ahmadinejad said in an address to judiciary officials. "We have announced our readiness. But do they expect us to talk with such comments? He made a mistake."

Although the streets of Tehran, the Iranian capital, have quieted down, the aftershocks of the disputed election continue. Late Saturday, some residents of the capital reportedly climbed to their rooftops and chanted "God is great," in a symbolic act of defiance in support of Mir Hossein Mousavi, who was defeated in an election many Iranians and independent experts consider fraudulent.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a Saturday report that pro-government Basiji militiamen have been storming neighborhoods of Tehran, damaging private property and assaulting civilians in an attempt to stop the nightly chants, which are reminiscent of protests that erupted in the months before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Late Friday, the Guardian Council announced that ballots from the June 12 vote would be examined by a committee made up of six distinguished officials and representatives of the campaigns of Mousavi and candidate Mehdi Karroubi. But both candidates said Saturday that they rejected the partial vote count, demanding that the entire result be nullified, according to statements on their Web sites.

Mohsen Rezaei, a conservative candidate who had withdrawn his complaints about the election, asked to be allowed to place a representative on the commission.

Analysts say Ahmadinejad draws domestic political strength when he is under attack internationally.